June 2016 – Since the Brexit

Tories in Shock as Boris Declines to Stand for PM

June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 adminborexit, gove, johnson, tory leadership election 20160 comment

In a move,which seemed to surprise even his closest colleagues and supporters, Boris Johnson earlier today declined to stand as leader of the Conservative Party and as the next PM of the United Kingdom. Johnson announced his intention not to stand at a much anticipated press conference expected to be his campaign launch. He began his speech, held at St. Ermin’s Hotel close to the Palace of Westminster, by outlining what he called “the agenda for the next Prime Minister of this country”. But just as cheers and celebrations were…

European Commission International Politics

Brexit Discussions in Bruxelles

June 29, 2016June 29, 2016 adminBrexit, Cameron, European Parliament, farage, Guy Verhofstadt, Juncker0 comment

The discussions about what to do after the Brexit referendum has moved to Bruxelles, where there has been a number of meetings in the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Commission in recent days. At a meeting in the European Parliament, a smug and bellicose Nigel Farage told his fellow parliamentarians that Isn’t it funny? When I came here 17 years ago and I said that I wanted to lead a campaign go get Britain out of the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well, I…

Spoof

Euro 2016: English Team in Turmoil – Undecided about whether to leave France (spoof)

June 28, 2016June 28, 2016 adminEURO2016, Football, ShouldIStayOrShouldIGo0 comment

The England Euro 2016 defeat to Iceland has sent shockwaves through the nation, and has left football fans and players in a turmoil. The surprise defeat of mighty England to the microscopic North Atlantic island nation has led to the immediate resignation of England manager Roy Hodgson. In a statement by Hodgson immediately after the match on Monday evening he said, that he was devastated by the result and that the only reasonable thing for him to do was to resign. He would not ask the team to leave France,…

Financial Markets

UK stripped of AAA rating by Big Two Credit Rating Agencies

June 27, 2016 adminBrexit, EURO2016, ratings0 comment

On a day which has seen UK party politics in turmoil and the England national team crashing out of the EURO 2016 being defeated by microscopic Iceland, two of the three major international credit rating agencies have stripped the UK of its top credit rating, making it more expensive for households, companies and UK government alike to borrow money. The rating was downgraded by two notches, from AAA to AA, by Standard & Poors and by one notch from AA+ to AA by Fitch. UK Growth forecasts were downgraded as well,…

Financial Markets UK Politics

Markets Continue to Drop in Wake of Brexit – But Not as much as Expected

June 27, 2016June 27, 2016 admin£350 million, bregret, Brexit, farage, IDS, sturgeon0 comment

The markets continued to drop in early trading on June 27 following the Brexit referendum. Although the massive drops predicted in the early hours after the vote has yet to materialize, the Pound is trading at its lowest level against the US dollar for about 30 years, and the FTSE is a further 2% down compared to the Friday closing level, and is now trading dangerously close to the 6,000 points mark. It is being speculated that the – after all – less-than-expected fall is in part due to increasing doubts over whether the UK will actually…

UK Politics

Labour Meltdown as Benn Sacking Triggers Domino Effect

June 26, 2016June 26, 2016 adminbenn, Brexit, corbyn, resignation, shadow cabinet0 comment

A meltdown is taking place in Labour’s Shadow Cabinet today, as the sacking of Shadow Foreign Secretary Hillary Benn triggers resignations by several key members of Jeremy Corbyn’s team. According to media reports, Benn was sacked in a midnight phone call, after he had apparently tried to rally support for a Shadow Cabinet revolt against leader Jeremy Corbyn during the Saturday. Corbyn has long been considered a lukewarm supporter of the EU, and he has been conspicuously absent for much of the campaign leading up to the June 23 Brexit referendum.…

European Commission UK Politics

Second Casualty: UK Commissioner Quits

June 25, 2016June 26, 2016 adminBrexit, commissioner, resignation0 comment

Jonathan Hill, former leader of the House of Lords, has turned in his resignation as the UK Commissioner in the European Commission in the wake of the UK Brexit referendum. As the European Commissioner responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, Hill was considered one of the most influential and important members of the Juncker commission. According to The Guardian, Hill’s departure “became a foregone conclusion after the vote for Brexit, because many European politicians oppose having a Briton in charge of financial services when the UK…

Financial Markets Jobs

Morgan Stanley to move 2,000 jobs out of London – or?

June 25, 2016June 26, 2016 adminBrexit, city of london, jobs, rumours, unemployment0 comment

Shortly after the official result of the Brexit referendum became known, BBC reported that according to anonymous sources, Morgan Stanley, one of the world’s largest financial services corporations, had already decided to move 2,000 employees from the City of London/Canary Wharf to Dublin and Frankfurt due to the British exit vote. This seemed to be the first of many such announcements from major companies. However, shortly after the newsflash from the BBC a spokesman for Morgan Stanley denied that any such plans to move employees from London exists. Thus it is still…

Financial Markets

Financial markets plummet in response to surprise Leave vote

June 25, 2016June 26, 2016 adminBrexit, EUR, Financial, FTSE, GBP, stocks, USD0 comment

The Leave vote came as a surprise to the financial markets, as the last polls before the Brexit referendum had shown a small but fairly secure victory for the Remain side. Even the UK bookmakers had got it wrong, and in the days before the referendum some bookies offered odds of 2/9 on Remain, implying a 82 percent winning chance for that outcome. As such, the financial markets were generally unprepared for the final result, which therefore came as a huge shock to the international financial markets. The British Pound dropped early on in…

UK Politics

First Casualty: David Cameron

June 25, 2016June 25, 2016 adminBrexit, David Cameron, Downing Street, PM, Renegotiation0 comment

British PM David Cameron became one of the first known casualties of the Brexit vote as, in the morning of June 24, he informed the Queen and the public of his intention to stand down as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He will remain in place, however, until the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on October 2-5, 2016, where his successor is likely to be announced. The date of the Brexit referendum was announced by Cameron in February 2016 following a lengthy process of renegotiation with the EU. In…